LONDON (Reuters) - Former world number one Maria Sharapova wasted no time in reaching the semi-finals of the WTA event in Birmingham on Friday, posting two easy victories.
The Russian second seed first completed a rain-delayed 6-0 6-3 defeat of Bethanie Mattek-Sands before returning to court to beat Sesil Karatantcheva 6-2 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
Sharapova, twice a winner at the Wimbledon warm-up event, will play American qualifier Alison Riske in the semi-finals after she upset third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.
Karatantcheva, who switched nationality to Kazakhstan from Bulgaria, fell out with Sharapova in 2004 after a row in practice and was banned for a doping offence in 2006.
She did show some encouraging form against Sharapova, however, and made the former Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion, work hard in the second set.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Miles Evans)
